Member News
A successful North East firm is marking 25 years in business by starting a major project on a key site. The Parsons Containers Group will redevelop its Darlington A66 depot, reinforcing its status as the company’s operational hub and positioning the business for its next phase of growth.
Founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Ean Parsons after spotting a gap in the mar
et, the County Durham-based business has grown from a small resale operation into a leading name in container sales and self-storage. Within its first year, the company achieved £250,000 in sales, and soon after launched its self-storage arm, U Hold The Key, placing its first units in Sedgefield as an experiment in local self-storage.
Now, 25 years on, U Hold The Key operates 11 self-storage sites across the North East, including Stockton-on-Tees (two sites), Middlesbrough, Sunderland, South Shields, Newcastle, Gateshead, Bishop Auckland, Alnwick, Mainsforth and the A66 Darlington hub, alongside Parsons Containers’ nationwide sales and conversion service.
The A66 site, acquired in 2016 with the aim of bringing container sales, storage and operations into one location, has steadily evolved into the company’s main operational hub. It began as a combined sales and U Hold The Key storage site, before expanding further and, in 2020, becoming home to the container sales office following its relocation from the company’s HQ in the Grade II* listed Manor House in Sedgefield. Today, it houses the sales, logistics and operations teams, and enables customers to walk the depot and choose from a wide range of stock.
Parsons Containers is now embarking on a significant programme of redevelopment at the A66 hub, led by Group CEO Ean Parsons, Managing Director Helen Parsons and Operations Manager Dean Tempest, who are working closely together to shape the next phase of the site’s evolution. The project will extend and remodel the depot to improve efficiency, increase capacity and enhance the customer experience. The investment will support further development of the container sales yard, the repositioning and expansion of self-storage facilities, and upgrades to on-site infrastructure, helping the business to better showcase its wide range of stock and meet growing demand. Work is due to begin later this month.
Ean Parsons, Group CEO said: “The redevelopment of the A66 site is about building a platform for the future. We’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 25 years, but our focus is firmly on what comes next. This investment will allow us to support more customers, operate more efficiently and continue our growth across the region and beyond.”
Helen Parsons, Managing Director, adds: “People want to feel confident when choosing a container, and being able to visit the A66 site to see what they are purchasing first-hand gives them the reassurance and guidance they need and has become central to our customer offering. This next stage of development will strengthen that experience and reflect the scale of where the business is now.”
The company, now employing 23 people, has weathered challenges including the 2007 credit crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic, and continues to expand its services and presence across the North East — with many team members having been with the business for well over a decade, helping to shape its culture, stability and long-term success.
Parsons Containers will be hosting a series of celebratory events over the next 12 months to mark the 25th anniversary, that will also mark 25 years of U Hold The Key. The firm recently kickstarted the celebrations by bringing staff together for a special event at the Manor House, looking back at the last quarter of a century over dinner.
